The Impossible Library
by ShoweredThoughts
Summary: The Doctor takes Rory and Amy to the oldest and largest library in the universe. The Doctor and Rory become engrossed in their own books, but Amy is left wondering about the magical Doctor she thought she knew. Will the books provide the answer or leave her questioning more? One-shot.


_Note to readers: info regarding the senex, et al. belongs to Wikipedia._

_Also, this story is about a different library, not The Library._

**The Impossible Library**

"It's your pick, Rory," the Doctor told him.

Rory just recently joined the Doctor, and Amy – his new wife – on the adventure of a lifetime. The boy who waited for the girl who didn't make sense was travelling together with the madman in a box. He had a voice now, but he wasn't sure what to say so he thought to start off small. The Doctor alone brought them to Venice as a wedding present, so how could he top that on his own?

"How about the oldest and largest library," they stared at him and he responded after a few seconds of an awkward silence. "In the universe."

"That's more like it. Think BIG!" The Doctor was excited.

He pulled the levers and pushed the buttons in order to get the TARDIS up and going. They all held on while the TARDIS flew through time and space in order to get to the library. In no time they arrived.

"I could do for some peace and quiet. Don't you think, Pond?" The Doctor asked Amy enthusiastically. "I've always loved reading."

Amy was only 7 when she first met the Doctor. She knew him as the raggedy doctor then, and he gave her permission to come along with him in his time machine. Only, when he needed 5 minutes to stabilize the engines, it turned into 12 years. When he came back, she'd grown up into a spirited woman who was still waiting for her magic Doctor to return. When he did, she wasn't really sure how to deal with it, especially since the Atraxi were about to burn the Earth. He asked her to trust him for 20 minutes, and when those twenty minutes ended, he disappeared again for two more years.

"14 years since fish custard?" she remembered him saying to her in the middle of the night.

Amy could remember that night as if it happened yesterday. She was in her nightie. And he brought her to Starship UK. He came back for her, even after all of those years.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"Wherever you like."

Who knew that the wherever would also turn into whenever. She travelled back and forth in time and places that she really didn't know how long she stuck with the Doctor. So many things happened in the past, in the future, and in between that she wasn't even sure if she aged at all. All that danger and fast paced action became a part of Amy's life. Maybe the library with her brand new husband was just what she needed.

"Yeah, peace and quiet would be nice," Amy responded.

Rory opened the doors of the TARDIS. They stood in front of a monstrous building. Nothing was ordinary about it. It was so terrifically large that they couldn't even see the sky, nor could they see anything to their sides. All they could see was the front of the building and all the windows attached. It looked like an ordinary building from the outside, besides the immensity of the size, and in truth it didn't look like much of a library. More of an institution than anything.

"The oldest and largest," the Doctor repeated. "Books, publications, anything you'd ever want to read since the dawn of time. In every single language of the universe. Anything and everything. It takes years to even finish one bookshelf. Mainly because things are constantly added but never actually destroyed."

Rory was certainly excited, but Amy was not so much. She regretted saying that she wanted peace and quiet. What was she going to do in a library? The Doctor looked surprisingly enthusiastic about it all. She thought he was very finicky about staying in one place, but he seemed to want to just stop and enjoy the books.

"Right, so we'll go to the English section seeing as how you two don't know any other languages. We just need to find the six hundred and eighty fourth reference desk. The holographic humanoid will help bring us there," the Doctor led the way into the library.

The sky high doors opened just as they stepped on the first step. The Doctor made a sharp stop and stepped up to a small metal box that was propped up in front of him. He took out his sonic screwdriver and activated it.

"If you'd like help at the reference desk, please state the number now," the box said.

"684, please," the Doctor said.

"Retrieving."

"It's kind of an old system, so hold on," the Doctor said.

All of a sudden, bars shot up from out of the ground. Turns out, they were standing on a platform of sorts. Amy and Rory placed their hands on the bars, and the platform lifted off the ground a few inches and whisked them off to the right so fast that everything was a blur. They stopped abruptly at the 684 reference desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" a holographic simulation popped up in front of them.

"We're looking for the English section," the Doctor said.

"Any particular era, book, genre?" she asked.

The Doctor looked at Amy and Rory. They shook their heads.

"No, everything will do," the Doctor smiled.

"Please press your hand onto the pad to verify," she said.

The Doctor put his hand on the pad, then Rory, then Amy. A green light emitted from the pad and they were whisked off again.

"What was that?" Amy managed to ask with her hair all over her face.

"It scans us to make sure we aren't a threat. There are books here that are older than time and books that always update in real time. Can't have people or aliens just walking about reading it. There are certain aliens and people that can't come here because of the wealth of knowledge stored here. With whatever intentions that they have, you don't want to give them an advantage."

Finally, they stopped.

"Floor 110. Section: English," the box spoke.

"110?" Rory asked. "When did we go … up?"

"It never really feels like you're going up or down. That's the magic of this library. It will expand on for ages and ages. It's like the TARDIS, but bigger, if you can believe it."

In front of them stood massive book shelves that seemed to extend to infinity. The size was so overwhelming that Amy and Rory hurt their necks trying to see where the bookshelves hit the ceiling. Around them, they were surrounded by billions of books. To match the books were different furniture from almost every human era. A locked room caught Amy's eye.

"What's in there?" Amy asked, pointing inconspicuously towards the doors with a giant safe mechanism that was far more technologically advanced than any other things they'd seen so far.

"The oldest, newest, most confidential, and highly guarded documents in recorded history. You have to obtain the status of the highest authority in order to physically touch the originals," the Doctor explained. "But out here, you can look for anything. It's like Google, but you know, books."

Amy wondered why he dropped the subject so quickly seeing as he wasn't one to shy away from locked things. She supposed that even he couldn't get in there, so there was no reason to further discuss the topic. Rory, on the other hand, paid little attention to that room. He was too entranced by the gargantuan bookshelves that housed all the books.

"So how do we get to those books up there?" Rory pointed to the ceiling.

"Say Reference 684," the Doctor smiled.

"Reference 684?" Rory questioned.

In an instant, the holographic humanoid from the desk popped up in front of Rory.

"May I be of assistance?" She asked Rory.

"Yes, um, what's up there?" Rory pointed.

"Checking …" it stood still whilst its eyes moved rapidly. "At the utmost top shelf. Astrology."

Seemed to fit seeing that the only thing they could see past the bookshelf were the stars, "Um, great. How do I get to them, exactly?"

"Please state book needed," she said.

"I-I don't have a book in mind," Rory stood there, then as if a light bulb went off in his mind. "Get me everything you have on the TARDIS."

"Everything?" the Doctor said, his eyes widening.

"Fetching."

All of a sudden, books started popping off of the shelves and falling towards them.

"Watch out!" the Doctor grabbed Amy and Rory.

The books landed on the nearest table with a thud. They began piling up and Rory looked amazed. Finally it stopped. They were arranged from most recent to the oldest books. Hundreds and hundreds of books created a fort by the table.

"Wow, that's a lot," Rory said as he walked to the fort, trying to decide where to start.

"Are you in need of assistance?" the reference hologram asked the Doctor.

"Yes, I would love some comic books," he said as he walked off with the reference.

Comic books began falling off the shelves and landing perfectly in order on another table a little farther from Rory. Amy could see the Doctor taking a seat in a comfy sofa where the comic books were.

"Are you in need of assistance?" Reference popped up right in front of Amy's face.

"Uh, any recommendations?" she said, not really knowing what she wanted.

"Choose a letter."

"Erm…"

"M. Selected. Mythology. Confirm?"

"Uh, sure. Yes, confirmed!" she said.

"Number?"

"20?"

Books began falling off the shelves again and landing on a desk beside the Doctor's. There wasn't as many as she thought which she felt relieved about. She took a seat in the chaise lounge and picked up the first book that caught her eye. She began reading but slowly drifted to sleep. She woke up to the Doctor laughing wildly at the comic he was reading. She looked up to see the page she was at. _Puer aeternus._ Amy didn't remember flipping to the page, then again, who knew what could happen in the library. Books would pile up magically where you wanted them to, or where you didn't want to, and they'd always be what you were looking for – even if you weren't looking for them at first. Amy looked at Rory, but he was still so digested into what he was reading that she didn't want to interrupt him, so Amy began skimming the page.

Rory was getting tons of information on the TARDIS. Being new and all, he wanted to make sure that he was fully capable of handling a situation when he needed to. The last time something happened was when he accidentally killed Amy. He was basically reading the manual of how to fly the TARDIS. Ironically, the book was called "Flying the TARDIS for Dummies." For some reason, he managed to finish his collection of books rather quickly, especially since some of the material was repeated.

Rory got up and stretched. He could see Amy and the Doctor reading, well, whatever they were reading, so he called over. They couldn't hear him. He yelled a bit louder, but still they couldn't hear him. He groaned.

"Whatever," he said. "Reference 684!"

Reference appeared, "May I be of assistance?"

"Yes, my friends can't seem to hear me," Rory began.

Reference interrupted him, "The library is intended for quiet small talk, any loud noises or yelling will be eliminated once our sensors pick it up. You may yell as loud as you want, but no one will hear."

"Then what happens in emergencies?"

"You may whisper."

Rory rolled his eyes, "I'd like to return the books."

"As you wish."

The books stacked neatly into a pile and magically jumped up the bookcase to their rightful spots.

"Will you need any more assistance?"

"Do you have books on Time Lords?"

"We have seven hundred sixty eight million, nine hundred and thirty two books on Time Lords."

"Uh, that's a lot. How about on the Doctor," Rory looked at the man still reading comic books. "That Doctor."

"We have eleven books on the Doctor," Reference said.

"Great, I'd like to borrow them, please."

"As you wish."

The books piled on the desk that he was on. Rory assumed it would be eleven short collections, however, he was terribly wrong. Each book had nearly three thousand pages. Obviously, they weren't the typical page that people from the twenty first century would read, but there were still a lot of words that Rory got himself prepared for – especially reading the books about the TARDIS.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Reference disappeared.

He sat down, took a deep breath, and opened the eleventh book. Across the room, Amy was seriously engrossed in what she was reading; she hadn't noticed that Rory had gotten new books. Even as the books were flying across her head, she wouldn't take her eyes off of the page. There was something about the library that would keep everyone duly enthralled in what they were reading.

Puer aeternus _is Latin for eternal boy. Psychologically, it refers to an older man whose emotional life has remained at an adolescent level. _

Amy looked up at the nine hundred year old Doctor. He was giggling to himself at the comic book he was still reading. He laid on his stomach on his couch and flipped the page without noticing that Amy was basically staring at him. She returned to her book.

_Like all archetypes, the _puer_ is bi-polar, exhibiting both a "positive" and a "negative" aspect. The "positive" side symbolized newness, potential for growth, hope for the future. He also foreshadows the hero that he sometimes becomes. The "negative" side is the child-man who refuses to grow up and meet the challenges of life face on. The shadow of the _puer _is the _senex _(Latin for "old man"), associated with being disciplined, controlled, responsible, rational, and ordered._

She closed the book. She was too surprised at what she was reading to even continue. It described the Doctor completely, and she was wondering what "Doctor" really meant in his language. Then she began wondering what his name was, but the idea of the _senex_ felt more easily researchable. She abruptly got up and walked far from the Doctor. His eyes were on her wondering where she was going, but he wasn't worried about Amy.

When she thought she was far from earshot, she called out for Reference.

"May I be of assistance?"

"Yeah, can I get some books on the senex?"

"Searching… Found," the reference looked at Amy.

"I just need the most recent book," Amy interrupted Reference's search engine.

"As you wish."

As if by magic, the one book she needed appeared before her in her hands.

"Uh, thank you."

Reference disappeared and Amy opened the book. She would come to realize that if she ever needed something specific, the book would come to her. The page would also automatically open to the paragraph or sentence she was looking for.

_The _senex_ is described to be a wise old man – a profound philosopher distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment. He uses personal knowledge of people and the world to help tell stories and offer guidance. He may thereby act as a mentor. _

_The wise old man is often seen to be in some way "foreign," that is from a different culture, nation, or occasionally, a different time. He may be a luminal being. __He is represented as being kind and wise._

Amy looked up at the Doctor. She smiled. She had to hand it to him. He was like a mentor to her. He taught her things that she would have never learned in that sleepy town of Leadworth. Both young and old at the same time. The things she has seen because of him.

All of a sudden, the book flipped to a different page without her moving her hands.

_The character of the wise old man is commonly killed or in some other way removed for a time._

The second she finished reading that sentence, she dropped the book. It made a very, very, loud thumping noise. The Doctor and Rory didn't hear it though. Had she read correctly? Now she was doubtful that what she read was an exact description of the Doctor. This couldn't be foreshadowing anything, right?

"Reference 684!" Amy called out.

"May I be of assistance?"

"I need books on the Doctor. That one over there," she said, pointing at the man now on his back reading a different comic.

"Unavailable. Currently being used by," the reference paused. "Rory Williams of Earth."

Amy looked over at Rory. He was reading a book that had a TARDIS blue colour.

"Fine. Is there anything on the Doctor's death, then?"

"Access denied."

"What?"

"Books on the impending deaths of humans, aliens, and other terrestrial beings are only accessible to the highest authority. Kept in safe 209-5090-012."

"I am the highest authority," Amy lied with confidence.

"Please state your name, rank, and galaxy," the reference remained stoic.

"Queen Elizabeth the 2nd of the United Kingdom. Of the Milky Way galaxy," she was a bit hesitant.

"Verifying...Access denied."

"Well it was worth a shot," Amy turned around to walk back to her seat when her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Amy? Hi. I heard someone was trying to access records at the Library under a royal name?" the voice sounded familiar.

"Sorry, who's this?"

"Oh, Amy," she laughed. "It's Liz. The tenth."

Amy's eyes widened, "uh, your majesty. I'm sorry, it's just –"

"Don't worry about it, love. I owe you, remember? What do you need in the private records?"

"I just wanted to see what was so secret about the books," Amy lied to the queen.

"If you'd like, I can grant you access," she said in a playful tone.

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely. As long as the information is never revealed to others. Call the Reference in and put me on speaker."

Amy placed her phone to her side and called for the Reference. Amy held out her phone to her.

"I am the bloody queen. I am granting Amy Pond access to the private records," Liz said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, you're majesty. Amy Pond, please follow me," Reference said.

"Thank you," Amy hung up.

Amy followed Reference down a secret corridor. Opening the first safe led to another futuristic looking lock. The Reference placed its holographic hand on an invisible pad and punched in some keys. The doors opened.

The room was different than the room she was in before. It was dark, it was gloomy, and it was certainly a place to keep secret files. Maybe with all of the personal files on people, places, and things, it meant something that only people with a strong will could look at without getting heavily depressed.

"Please give me the book on the Doctor's death," she told the Reference.

"Searching…"

"Searching …"

"Found."

The book appeared on Amy's waiting hands. She sat down in a loveseat facing away from the entrance. She placed the book on her lap.

_The Life and … of the Doctor._

"And? And what?" Amy said aloud and got up, seeing as there was a mistake.

"And nothing," the Doctor appeared behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"I – uh," Amy was speechless.

"Or how did you get in here?" the Doctor wasn't completely amused. Here was the wise old man for her.

"Liz. 10. She granted me access. How did you get in here?"

"Liz. Oh, Liz," he reminisced about memories of her. "How did I get in here?"

"Exactly my question."

"You were wondering about my death. I heard. I am the highest authority on that particular subject. It is about me after all," he gave her a tired smile. "I have access to my own book. Though if I touch the other books, I get kicked out."

"So what does this mean?" she held the book up. "What does the 'And' mean?"

"It means that time is and can be rewritten. Maybe my death hasn't been written into the books yet. These books in this section of the library are all in a constant editing mode. These books don't have a fixed point."

Amy opened the book, looking for the page on his death, but it was completely blank.

"See? Nothing, which is a relief, you know?" The Doctor flashed a childish grin at Amy. "Now, come on, let's go. I bet your husband's getting a wicked headache right about now."

Amy rolled his eyes at her and put the book down on the table with the blank page still opened. She followed the Doctor out of the room and towards Rory.

"Hey, you two. Doctor? How long have we been here? Feels like days!" Rory rubbed his head.

"This library is meant to feel like you've been here long so that you can absorb all the information you need. In reality, we've been here for only ten minutes!" the Doctor laughed.

This new information gave Rory an even bigger headache.

"Right, Amy, I think it's your turn to choose a place," the Doctor turned towards a laughing Amy. "Mr. Pond doesn't seem to want to stick here anymore."

"Come on, boys. Back to the TARDIS!" she confidently walked towards the entrance, leaving the Doctor and Rory trailing behind. In all honesty, she still had the Doctor's death in her mind.

The door to the room of classified information closed, but not before the book edited itself.

_The Life and Death of the Doctor._

_ The Doctor, being in his eleventh incarnation, died on April 22, 2011 at Lake Silencio, Utah, United States, North America, Earth. Time of death was at 5:02pm. Observers at his death included Canton Everett Delaware III, Amy Pond, Melody "River Song" Pond, Rory Williams, and a member of the Silence._

_ The Doctor was shot by a Melody "River Song" Pond from a different time stream wearing an Apollo astronaut suit designed by members of the Silence. He was killed, and could not complete his next regeneration cycle. He was believed to be the last of the Time Lords and may now be a part of an extinct race. _

_ His body was lain to rest in a Viking style funeral, with a gasoline tank supplied by Canton Everett Delaware III. _

_ The Doctor lived to be 1103. _

_ His last words were: "I'm sorry."_


End file.
